Operation Love and Cheese
by twoplustwo
Summary: Arnold takes Helga to the cheese festival. What could possibly go wrong? HxA


**Inspired by the cheese festival episodes with Ruth and Lila. Obviously, I can't write poetry so I tried not to. I'm also not very good at romance stuff, so I'm sorry if it sounds lame ;-;**

It was a day filled with fun, excitement and cheese in Arnold's town. Yes, the annual Cheese Festival is coming up, and even though Arnold has had his record of romantic misadventures with a few girls that he took to the festival, but this time it was going to be different. Because this time, he was going with someone special.

Nervously, he slicked his hair back and tried to wipe off some sweat of his forehead. Although he felt more comfortable being with this girl compared to the previous girls, he had always felt skittish asking any girl out on a date.

He walked over to her desk, just when Phoebe was about to leave.

'Hey Helga.' he said.

'What's up football head,' she replied in her usual, grumpy manner.

'Well, the Cheese Festival is coming up, and I was wondering if you would like to go with me.'

Her eyes lit up, which she quickly hid with her usual scornful expression.

'Are you asking me out on a date? Gross! I would rather eat a box filled with nails than go to the cheese festival with you!' she spat, walking away.

However, before she touches the door, she turns around. 'Pick me up five thirty sharp, Miriam's house.'

'Okay.' He replies with a smile.

And with that, Helga skips off to the hallways towards the rising sunset.

* * *

In front of the lively Cheese Festival, Helga waits for Arnold to walk over to her.

'You're late, Arnold!' she cries.

'It's five thirty one.'

'You're a minute late, I expected you to be here pronto. Now, am I going to hold your arm or not?

He holds out his arm, which Helga quickly wraps with hers.

'You know, when I asked you to be here with me, I thought you were going to be a little more nicer than this.'

Helga scoffs. 'What are you talking about, Arnoldo? This is the way I am! Deal with it!'

However, Arnold doesn't seem to think so.

Helga spots a roller coaster ride, filled with screaming people.

'Hey look' she points, 'That seems like fun, are you up for it football head?'

He nods, 'Sure. Lets go.'

Helga abruptly lets go of Arnold's arm. 'Wait, I have to go for a bathroom break.'

'But we just got here.'

'I know! It's uh, lady business, right!' She stomps off, 'Can't a girl use a bathroom around here? Sheesh.'

Arnold puts a hand on his hip, waiting nonchalantly. 'Whatever you say Helga.'

Helga dashes off, past walking cheese costumes and the ladies toilets, towards the dark dumpster where a girl can hide her deepest obsessions in the dirty bags and grimy crevices. Helga hides, holding her golden locket.

Meanwhile, Arnold has grown impatient, and decided to buy two cheese on sticks. He spots Harold devouring more than a few on a lonely little table

'Hey Harold, what's up?'

'Nothing. Just eating some cheese , what's it to you?' a few salivated cheese bits fly to Arnold's cheek. 'Well' he says, wiping it off. 'Do you have anyone with you?'

'No.' he replies, continuing on eating.

'Why didn't you ask big Patty to come eat with you?'

'It's not Big Patty it's Patty! And... ' he pushes his plate away. 'I can't ask her. I don't think she likes cheese anyway.'

'Maybe she'll surprise you. You'll never know until you try, Harold.' He looked at the festival. 'The festival is just getting started, so theres still a lot of time. If you hurry now, some of the stalls might still be open when you get back.'

Harold thought for a moment, 'You know Arnold' he said, standing up. 'You're right, I should go now!'

And with that, the big lug runs off and disappears inside the crowd.

'What's Pink-boy doing here?' Helga pops out from behind startling Arnold as she eats a few cheese on sticks on Harold's forgotten tray.

She threw the leftover stick over her shoulder, 'Anyway, you ready to go, bucko?'

'Sure.' Helga grabs his arm as they walk to the roller coaster.

The line was fairly long, so Arnold and Helga decided to busy themselves by trying to spot the most of their friends in the crowd. So far they had spotted Stinky, Curly, Gerald and Phoebe.

'Oh look theres Lila' Helga points out. 'Heh, remember when you two went on that disc ride and she puked on you? That was hilarious.'

'How did you know about that?'

'Um, uh, a little birdy told me! Doi.' She looked away, whistling.

Arnold sighed. 'Yeah, we couldn't go on a lot of big rides though. So, I think going with you will probably be a lot more fun than with Lila.'

And he smiled at her, Helga's heart fluttered as she accidentally let out a lovesick sigh.

'Helga? What's wrong?'

'Nothing Arnold! I was uh, just feeling a bit cold that's all!' And she let out another pretend lovesick sigh.

'Sorry, I'm not wearing a jacket. Do you want to wear my sweater?'

_Arnold is lending me his sweater!,_ Helga swooned internally.

'It's fine football head. Besides I'm not that cold anyway.'

Finally, it was their turn to ride the roller coaster. They pulled down their seatbelt and fastened it tight. Helga and Arnold were at the front, riding the head of the dragon. The man pushed his button, and the ride slowly lurched into life. They went over and downwards, speeding through and falling down, in twists and turns across the railways. Everyone screamed in delight and fear.

It would've been perfect, if the man who was in charge of the controls wasn't talking to a particularly attractive woman as his elbow unknowingly slides to the stop button.

The ride abruptly stops, and Helga and Arnold hung upside down at the top of a loop. Everyone screamed.

'Were gonna die!' Helga shrieked, clinging tightly to her seat belts.

The rest of the people were in chaos, screaming and clinging on to dear life. Some were crying. Arnold hung upside down on his seat. He can feel the blood rushing up to his head.

'I-It's going to be fine! Just don't look down.'

'Don't look down?! We're upside down, Arnold!' She screamed. Panicking, Arnold grabbed her hand. He tried again.

'It's going to be fine, Helga. Just don't panic. Okay?'

She looked at him, and slowly gave out a small, unconfident reply. 'Okay.'

Just then, the ride moves forward, and slides down to the exit. Everyone races out crying, and some, like Helga, take their complaints directly to the man in the controller.

'We could've died, you idiot! What the heck made you do something like that?!'

The man trembled. 'I-I'm sorry. I-It was a girl! I didn't mean to do it!'

A girl? Helga thought, her blood running cold. 'And what did this girl look like?'

'Umm, she had red hair-' 'Red hair!' Helga gasps. It must be Lila! She must've taken this chance of revenge for Helga getting Arnold!

She runs to Arnold, but not before socking the guy in the face.

'Arnold!' Helga waves over, running towards him.

'I know who did it, it was Lila!'

Arnold looked at her, disbelieving. 'Lila? What are you talking about?'

'She must've taken this chance of revenge' she breathes, 'after she found out you... like me, like me.' Arnold blushes.

'Come on, Lila will never do that. And if she did, I'm not going to let her get in the way of us having fun. Now come on.' He holds out his hand.

'Do you want to hold my hand?' Helga asks.

'Yeah... it's fine if you don't want to.' Embarrassed he put it back in his pocket, but Helga quickly held it before he could do so.

'I want to. Now, let's go to the haunted house, Arnoldo!'

Helga pulled him forward towards the dreaded haunted house.

The line didn't seem so long, probably because the haunted house has a reputation of scaring the pants out of anyone who comes in for three days.'

They walked in, Helga more confident in brushing off Lila's futile attempts in getting in the way of Helga and Arnold's love.

Helga spotted a wisp of red hair hide behind a corner.

'It's her, Lila!' Helga shakes Arnold's hand, but Arnold brushes it off.

'Just leave it alone, Helga.' he replies irritably.

'But Arnold-!' Someone else shushed her and they walked through the dark hallways of the house.

Apparitions pop out silently from ever corner, lighted in an eerie glow. And every time they do, it was Lila's head Helga could imagine. One time, a chain saw massacrer popped out chasing Helga and Arnold. Helga knocked him out with one blow.

'Helga' Arnold said. 'I'm not sure you're supposed to do that.'

'Give me a break football head, the guy couldn't even hold a chainsaw properly. It could've been Lila.'

They continued to walk.

'You know, Helga, you seem a little bit on edge. Maybe going here wasn't such a good thing after all.' Arnold said.

'I'm not on edge, Arnoldo, I'm alert. Besides going here was my idea, remember?'

'Look, I think you should stop worrying. I'm sure it was just a big misunderstanding, that girl was probably someone else. And if she was Lila, she probably didn't mean to do that. You know how she is.'

Little Miss Perfect is a goody-two shoes who wouldn't even hurt a fly, save her life. But Helga wasn't falling for that.

'Okay, I'll pretend that roller coaster didn't happen and try to have fun.'

Arnold sighed, Helga was being so hard to talk to.

However, as they continued to go on, nothing seemed to be going wrong. Everything was perfect, much to Helga's dismay. Or would've been perfect, because as they neared the exit, the doors shut down and the house turned dark and was lighted with ominous shades of red and green.

Helga screamed.

'What happened?' Arnold cried nervously.

'It's her! I knew it, she's behind the whole thing!'

Arnold squeezed her shoulder, 'Calm down Helga, you're being paranoid!'

'Me? Paranoid?!' she shrieked, 'You were the one who didn't believe that Lila was an obsessive maniac! And now were going to die!'

A puff of smoke appeared, and a dark figure appeared rose up, arms outstretched. Arnold and Helga screamed, and they ran towards the exit, which flung open, and towards the light.

Afterwards, when they recovered their senses, Helga had a little talk with the lady in the controls.

'What's wrong with you woman?! There was a murderer inside there! We could've died!' She waved her fist in a threatening manner.

'T-that was the special scare edition, it was pre-ordered-'

Preordered? 'Who preordered it?'

The lady looked away. 'I'm sorry but looking for that will take a while... preorders are usually left anonymous.'

Anonymous? Helga thought, It must be Lila trying to cover her tracks! Well I'll just have to expose her another way.

Arnold saw Helga coming towards her.

'So? What did she say?'

'It was a stupid special scare edition. I bet Lila pre ordered as a special surprise-'

Arnold interrupted her, 'Hold on, Lila? Lila did it?'

Helga nodded innocently.

'Where's the proof?' he asked in suspicion. But Helga had none.

'Er, pre orders are usually left anonymous.'

Arnold looked at her irritably. 'You know Helga, I'm getting really sick of you talking about Lila like that.'

'But I'm right! It is her! I just need some proof...'

'Look, lets just get through the night without talking about this.'

They tried to. They ate cheese and sausages before going to another ride. A gentler, more romantic ride. The Love Boat.

They walked off to different sides of the fence, and to Helga's surprise, there was Lila waiting in line!

Helga tried getting Arnold's attention.

'Arnold! Arnold! Lila's here... I told you!' she hissed. But Arnold wasn't having any of it.

'Can you stop it, Helga?' he hissed back. 'I told you, I don't want to hear it.'

'But it's true! She's right there!'

The line moved forward, and Lila moved closer to the boats.

'I'm gonna prove to you, football head, that I'm telling the truth!' Helga declared, shoving off girls until she gets to Lila. Arnold, who tried to catch up to her, squeezed past the boys, and pretty soon a chaotic scene unfolded where everyone tried to push past anyone to get who they wanted to be with. It was all too familiar for Arnold.

'Next.' the operator announced nonchalantly as he grabbed his collar and took him away from the battle scene. He sat on one of the swan boats, unsure who his partner will be due to the commotion. The operator grabbed another girl, who sat down with him.

'Lila?' Arnold said, and the red-head seemed as surprised as he is.

'Why Arnold, how ever so nice to see you.' She said quite timidly.

The boat started to move forward, and Lila and Arnold disappeared inside the heart-shaped cavern.

'Next' said the operator, grabbing Helga's collar. The boat moved forward, and Helga realised she was sitting next to Eugene.

'Oh brother.' She sighed, leaning on the side of the boat.

'Oh hello Helga, I didn't think I'd end up meeting you here. You know, I heard this funny love song about two people in a swan. I'll sing it to you! It starts like this..'

The boat disappears into the heart shaped cavern, where a peppy song can be heard, followed by a punch and a splash that echoed throughout the walls.

'Did you hear that?' said Arnold, looking around the walls.

'Hear what, Arnold?'

'I think it was a peppy song being sung, followed by a punch and a splash that echoed throughout the walls.'

Lila giggled. 'Oh Arnold, you're so silly.'

'Heh, right.' Arnold scratched his head, looking away. Lila seemed particularly girlish today, with her giggling and timidness. Arnold started to think that maybe... no, there's no way Lila would do any of that. She's too nice!

'This really takes you back, doesn't it?' Lila started, looking around. The fairy lights seemed to dance around her face like a dream.

'Yeah, except back then, our boat was sinking and I had to save you from the water that was 2 metres deep.'

Lila smiled at him, 'Oh, and I thought that was ever so charming of you.'

'Well, thanks.'

Arnold looked at her, since he didn't know where else to look.

Meanwhile, Helga grabbed a stick drifting on the water, and used it to paddle. She paddled hard and with growing intensity.

'Lila can get Arnold over my dead body!' she cried paddling faster and faster. Suddenly, she sees Lila and Arnold's silhouette in the swan boat. She craned her head towards, so she could just hear their conversation.

'You know Lila, I have to ask you something..'

Lila looked towards him, 'Yes, Arnold?'

Arnold started to get nervous, 'Well, this is kind of hard to say but..uh...'

'Yes?' Lila urged.

'Noo!' Helga almost screamed out loud as she gets ready to dive into the water.

'Did you rig the roller coaster?'

'Huh?' Lila asked confused. There was a loud splash when Helga fell off the boat in the background, which caught both Lila and Arnold's attention.

'What was that?'

'I don't know' Arnold shrugged, 'Maybe they started to add fish.'

Helga swam around, Her eyes popping out of the water like a crocodile. She hadn't expected Arnold to ask that, and the shock threw her off balance and into the water. She swam to them and clung on to the side of their boat, waiting for the answer.

'No. I'm ever so sure I didn't do that, Arnold.'

But Arnold wasn't convinced. 'Really? Helga told me that the operator was distracted by this red-haired girl so I thought...'

Lila started to giggle, 'Well, I'm sure I didn't do it. After all, I hate scary rides ever so much, and I hate scaring people even more.'

'What about the time in the haunted house, and on the Love Boats!'

'Gosh, Arnold. I think you're misunderstanding something. You see, I already have a date. That's why I'm in here, it's probably just a big coincidence that you're here with me too.'

'Oh, okay. I'm sorry for doubting you.'

'It's alright. I'm glad you asked so everything's cleared up and well now.' She tousled Arnold's blonde hair.

Suddenly, a watery apparition clawed it's hand to the surface of the boat. Lila screamed.

'Helga, what are you doing here?' Arnold cried out.

'What's up, bucko.' she looked over to his side, 'Lila.' she said. She hopped on the swan boat and took a seat between Arnold and Lila.

'You're wet!' Arnold took of his sweater. 'Here, dry yourself with this.'

Helga took it, and rubbed her face all over it.

_The smell of Arnold's sweater!_ She sighed.

'Anyway, I'm with Helga. That's why I'm here Lila.'

The girl beamed, 'Wow, I'm ever so glad for you two! I'd always hoped that you two will end up together.'

'You did?' Helga asked.

'Yes, you two are always so sweet to each other.'

They looked at each other and blushed. Lila giggled.

'So theres someone else who I think owes you an apology.' Arnold looked at Helga.

'Fine!' she cried out. 'I'm sorry I thought you were an evil, desperate, obsessive maniac who was out to separate Arnold and me.'

'Oh, uh it's fine, I guess.' Suddenly, the light started to shine, and the boat was going under the exit arch. Helga, Arnold and Lila stepped off.

'It's been fun hanging out with you two. Goodbye.' She waved away, and trotted off towards a guy in the distance that looked very much like another Arnold.

'I'm sorry for ruining the Cheese Festival for you this evening.' Helga apologised, ashamed of herself. 'You're right, I should be a little more nice. Everything would've probably turned out different'

Arnold smiled because Helga was being so sweet. 'It's alright Helga. I actually like you this way.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, It was kind of cute of you getting jealous on Lila over that.'

The people started to walk home, and the festivities has nearly closed. Except for a few lights that stayed open.

'Anyway, do you want me to walk you home?'

Helga was silent for a moment, before smiling. 'Yeah, sure.'

And right after they left, the light started to go out. And this time, no one was standing alone underneath it.


End file.
